Aleppo water crisis

The water crisis in Aleppo does not appear to be as bad as originally feared following Saturday's attack on drinking water supply, according to activist Edward Dark, who claims to be staying in Aleppo with his family.

edward dark (@edwardedark)

@the_47th the water situation is currently only affecting the areas near the burst pipe. rest of city still has water for now

A Jordanian militant leader linked to al-Qaida warned that his group will launch "deadly attacks" in Syria to topple President Bashar Assad, AP reports.

In a speech delivered to a crowd protesting outside the prime minister's office in Amman, Mohammad al-Shalabi, better known as Abu Sayyaf, told Assad that "our fighters are coming to get you."

Abu Sayyaf is the head of the Salafi Jihadi group, which produced several al-Qaida linked militants who fought US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past 10 years.

They are also blamed for the 2002 assassination of US aid worker Laurence Foley outside his Amman home...

Security officials say in private that Abu Sayyaf's group comprises several hundred activists. The group regularly faces crackdowns and arrests, but longterm detention without the filing of criminal charges a tactic that has been used by other Arab states to keep radical Islamists in prison indefinitely is not regularly used against the Islamists.

Syria's rebels enjoy widespread sympathy across Sunni Arab countries. Western officials say there is little doubt that Islamist extremists, including fighters from other Muslim countries, have made inroads in Syria as instability has spread.

Al-Qaida-style suicide bombings have become increasingly common.

Many of the foreign jihadists going to Syria are believed to come from Iraq, but in June Jordanian police said they arrested two members of Abu Sayyaf's group near the northern border as they tried to cross into Syria.

In his speech, Abu Sayyaf condemned "crimes" committed by Assad's ruling Alawite minority against the majority Sunni Muslims in Syria and said the situation there "prompts us to jihad."

"Take your dirty hands, which are stained with the blood of innocent people, off Sunni Muslims in Syria, or face our deadly attacks," he said. The crowd of about 200 responded with cries of "Allahu Akbar," or God is great.

The rally demanded the release of 40 jailed group members convicted of crimes, like Foley's assassination, links to al-Qaida and terror plots in Jordan, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Members of the Islamist Salafis shout slogans during a demonstration in front of the prime minister's office in Amman, on 9 September. The demonstration was organized to call for the release of dozens of their groups held in Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi prisons. Photograph: Ali Jarkeji/Reuters

Update: A new email from the Observatory says seven people were killed across Aleppo today, including two in the bombing of a residential block.

Updated at 3.18pm BST

2.55pm BST

Aleppo: 'thirsty, hungry and bloodied'

A blogger from Aleppo has an interesting post covering an number of topics including the humanitarian crisis in the city, the death of a film maker, and his own efforts to end abuses by rebel forces.

"My City is now thirsty, hungry and bloodied," the anonymous post says. Although the blogger is now away from the city it is worth reposting sizeable chunks of what he writes on the follow subjects.

Humanitarian crisis

My mother, who in her eighty years never witnessed such atrocities, refuses to leave, so does my sister, who has been, along with her children hostages in the basements of their buildings for a month now not knowing when to expect the next of Assad murderous bombs.

Yesterday, the banality of evil was in full display with the regime intentionally bombing up the main water supply line to the city. Streets were and to this hour continue to be flooded, and more than a million a half people in the city, including regime supporters, are now threatened with dying of thirst. The price of bread is now 20 folds what it was two months ago after the regime has intentionally targeted bakeries during heavy demand hours, and after regime snipers, who continue to be present in several pockets around the city have made movement, especially if one is carrying a bag of bread, a capital offence. Medical relief continues to be a hazardous undertaking. And living is now the most hazardous thing to do for the act of living and remaining in Aleppo is in itself the strongest defiance of the Assads and their supporters.

Death of filmaker Tamer al-Awan

A young Syrian film maker, Tamer Al-Awam [graphic video purports to show efforts to revive him], who left his safe residence in Germany to document the revolution in Aleppo, has died earlier today as a result of shrapnel wounds he received in Assad’s bombing pogrom while accompanying FSA fighters and documenting their fight for the freedom of Syria from the tyrant and his henchmen ...

I spent two evenings with Tamer a few months back, we talked about the revolution, we talked about the need to galvanize the efforts and touched on the concerns regarding SNC, FSA, and we both held our after dinner sweet and dark tea cups high in salute of the Syrian awakening spirit. One thing I vividly recall, this younger man, touching my elbow to get my attention as I was expressing concerns about rising sectarianism, and saying: don’t be concerned, sectarianism will not win this round, nor any other round from now on.

Efforts to end abuse by rebels

I will not analyze the situation in Aleppo, nor will I discuss the violations being committed in the name of the FSA for I have been involved, rather heavily and directly, in highly relevant activities aiming first to stem these violations and second to pressure the various armed groups in Aleppo to either unify under one national banner or be considered outlaws and servant of the regime’s policy and finally to stop the nonsensical broadcasting of movements and location of FSA fighters during operations by Facebook activists, especially those who are immature teens.

Yes there may be more foreign fighters in Aleppo than in other cities, but that can’t be used as an excuse to belittle the revolution, to stamp it as a jihadist enterprise as covert regime supporters do. It further gives no excuse to the wanton murderous destruction assad gangs are inflicting on Syria as their barbarian regime finishes its transformation from a brutal dictatorial mafia regime into a sectarian mafia militia, equipped with the most lethal instruments of murder and ready to use them against innocent civilians for no strategic goal other than burning the country.

2.05pm BST

Brahimi heading for Cairo

Brahimi, who last week described the Syrian bloodshed as "staggering" and the destruction "catastrophic", was on his way to the Middle East for the first time since taking up his role as the UN-Arab League envoy.

The Egyptian foreign ministry announced that Cairo will host a meeting of Iran, Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia to discuss the latest developments in Syria and find a solution to the Syrian crisis.The ministry announced that the meeting will be held in the next few days.

The aerial bombardment destroyed a residential building in the Hanano neighbourhood, one of several districts in eastern Aleppo under opposition control. The death toll was not immediately clear but bodies and wounded people were being dug out from the rubble, they said.

Thousands flee clashes in southern Damascus

Thousands of people have fled the Tadamon district and the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in southern Damascus after an army operation against the Free Syrian Army, according to an activist in the area.

Speaking to the Guardian, Mahmoud Nasar, described how the army moved into the two districts after several days of bombardment against rebel positions.

On a faint telephone line he said:

The army [occupied] some streets in Yarmouk yesterday ... They searched some houses and arrested some guys, but they released them after they beat them.

Humanitarian crisis in Aleppo

More than three million people in the city of Aleppo are facing a looming humanitarian disaster after the city’s main drinking water pipeline was destroyed in airstrike by regime forces. Floods swept through a number of neighbourhoods drowning many houses and commercial establishments.

More video from activists shows the water flooding through streets and homes.

A rebel brigade was also trying to cut off food and water to a contingent of soldiers inside the city, said Majed Abdulnoor, an opposition activist interviewed online. He said that a rebel brigade had besieged the Mudahami security building in Al Midan, blocking food, water or ammunition from reaching soldiers inside. The shells that cut off the water, Abdulnoor said, were fired in an attempt to free the building. Video from activists showed water pouring through a rebel held street.

On a visit to Russia, Clinton said she was willing to work with Moscow on a new UN resolution on Syria but warned that the United States would step up support to end Assad's regime if the measure did not carry consequences.

"There is no point to passing a resolution with no teeth because we've seen time and time again that Assad will ignore it and keep attacking his own people," Clinton told reporters at the end of an Asia-Pacific summit.

It's really something strange to see. They are directly saying that they aren't interested in Bashar al-Assad's fall, but are thinking about how to take power afterwards and set up an Islamic state with sharia law to become part of the world Emirate.

Jacques Beres, 71-year-old French surgeon and co-founder of the humanitarian organisations Doctors Without Borders and Doctors of the World, during his stint in Aleppo. Photograph: Youssef Boudlal/Reuters